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Last March 12, I started a trip that would take me to visit different educational institutions and
offices in 5 different cities around the USA: Washington DC, San Francisco, Boston, Kansas City
and Tampa. I wasn’t alone. I was one of the 10 participants of the USA Department of State’s
Program “ILVP” (International Leadership Visitor Program). With me there were English
teachers from Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Mexico, Haiti, Costa Rica and
Venezuela.
The program’s objectives were to examine the organization and methodology of Teaching
English as a Second Language around the USA; to provide teachers of English an opportunity to
meet with American colleagues to discuss current trends and developments in the field with
special attention to distance education, on-line courses, and multimedia in the classroom; to
develop a better understanding of the educational system in the US; and to provide exposure
to the complexity of social, political, economic and demographic dynamics in the US, paying
particular attention to immigration patterns and the impact they have on English acquisition
and usage in the US.
To achieve the program’s goals, the group travelled to 5 different cities in the US. Each city was
assigned a different theme:
Boston, Massachusetts: Since the topic for Boston was Professional Training and Networking we
had the chance of choosing what we wanted to listen at the TESOL CONFERENCE 2010. We
spent 3 great days delighting ourselves with speakers like Howard Gardner and David Nunan.
Personally, I tried to attend workshops that dealt with classroom observation, peer
observation and the use of technology in the classroom, and I must say that I had the chance
of participating in really enlightening workshops. And it was rewarding to listen and exchange
experiences with teachers from all over the world, and being able to see that in Uruguay we
are several steps ahead of many countries, and in some cases I dare to say we are working as
countries from the 1st world. We definitely ARE on the right path!! And also amazing was to
see that one of the “hot topics” of the conference were the workshops on the SIOP model.
Tampa, Florida: Our last city and a great place to do the program closure! Hot weather,
beaches, sunshine, seafood... and meetings! Before closing the program we met Linda Evans,
a professor at the University of South Florida. Mrs. Evans is involved with undergraduate and
graduate teacher education in the areas of bilingualism, ESL, literacy and technology. And last,
but not least, our group’s last visit in the US was to the community Development Corporation,
a University Area which has developed the “Even Start” program. This program is focused on
offering opportunities for immigrant parents to study ESOL, take exams and other adult
education classes, while their children are stimulated by a professional teaching staff in the
same building. In this place we were actually able to see the parents attending classes and
their children attending theirs. During lunchtime families gather, have lunch together and after
that they go to their respective classes again.
Ximena
If you want to see more pictures of the trip, find me in facebook: Ximena Tisnés (ximentis@hotmail.com)